A World Without Light
by DruidessQueen
Summary: When an accident leaves Ryou permanently blind; depression and bitter resentment serve only to push him further into the surrounding darkness. His only hope of ever seeing light again rests with Bakura; but was his Yami the one responsible for his loss..


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"A World without Light"

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Disclaimer:  I do not own YuGiOh.  I do not own much else either, except this plot; so if you would please ask before stealing it would be greatly appreciated.  Oh and a warning to the oblivious …contains yaoi, with Ryou/Bakura goodness.  Advisement includes viewer discretion and a box of tissues handy at all times!  Sad at first but it will lighten up in later chapters…  I think.  Out of character a bit sometimes, but I do my best.  May contain spoilers… or may not, you decide.

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Summary:  When an accident leaves Ryou permanently blind; depression and bitter resentment serve only to push him further into the surrounding darkness.  His only hope of ever seeing light again rests with Bakura; but was his Yami the one responsible for his loss in the first place?   

Can a 5,000-year-old Tomb Robber keep his Hikari from suffering the same fate, as he himself is condemned to?  A world without light can only bring darkness, or could there possibly be something more hidden deep within despair?

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"Our lives teach us who we are."

-Salman Rushdie

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Prologue:  Surrender

Dear Reader,

Be cautioned if the lessons I myself have learned hold any truth to those of your own…

Firstly, you are probably wondering why I am telling you this, the incident being mine and mine alone.  There are many answers to this, but mainly because this is something _I_ believe you should know, _need _to know even, but that _is only my opinion… _

The other reason is I find myself compelled, obligated even, to write down everything I experienced in those few weeks… everything I felt, everything I was, and everything I came to be through trials of suffering...

I need to make this perfectly clear however…  It is _not_ necessarily in any way something you have a _right_ to understand, or even a _desire_ to acknowledge the existence of such circumstances and fates...  

Everyone should be aware of my cause to some extent before we begin though, being as I do have a purpose in mind for this story.  This is not just for my health!  I would not share it with you unless I thought that some strength, and perhaps even another chance at hope, could come from within its pages…   

People need at least _one _thing to believe in this world and a miracle is always preferable to other circumstances I could mention just as easily throughout my lifetime... and his.

Nevertheless, I beg of you to try to remember that nobody and no one's life is perfect, comprehensive, or complete.  I ask only that you keep an open mind about the people and events you encounter.  Do _not judge anyone by their actions until you have reached the ending, then and only then, will I allow and leave you to draw your own conclusions…  I insist the thoughts be of your own accord, please do not let anything I say or do deter you. _

In the end and before we begin, I always figured that somehow _I_ chose this path for myself… that I chose it for _my_ discovery and for _my_ faith in trust… he shared it as well though.  Having said as much, I sincerely wish for _you_ to find another way entirely, this one is by far too painful to relive and it is only with great sadness that I revisit it tonight...  

When all is absolute however, the accomplishments are the same ones every human being tries to achieve in life…  

So without further ado, here is how it all began for me, and enjoy…

Sincerely,

Ryou Bakura 

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I was running harder and faster as the seconds flew by.  I turned every corner I came across, ducked into every alleyway I could find…  Always trying to loose them, but somehow I knew they were still only a heartbeat behind and gaining quickly.  I did not turn to look, I had no need to, their shouts of "there he is" and "get that little creep" were enough to reveal their presence.  

_Yami, what did you do this time?_  I thought at him despairingly.

No reply given from him, I should be used to _that by now.  Never before has he answered my cries for help on numerous occasions, even if it was his fault for leaving me in tight spots in the first place. _

It does not help when he goes away back into the Ring either, not many can differentiate between us when he does not want them to…

Panting I turned into another alley, this one looking like all the rest.  In the back of my mind, I realized that I was no doubt miles from my home or any other place of sanctuary I knew.  Somewhere within me, I understood that I could die tonight.  

He _must_ have recognized it too.

Now that he had his own body though, it made no difference to him either way.  No doubt, that is why he left me alone tonight.

I slipped and fell cruelly to the ground, cursing as I did so; but the words sounded dull and futile resonating as they were in my mind.  I could have just stayed where I was, just close my eyes, and never have to worry about rising.  My exhausted body and stiff muscles would never cause me pain again either.  I could be…

_Up you damned fool!  Get up now!  Do it and run!  _I will never know for sure if the voice that spoke was what remained of my conscious or if it was… my other self.

All the same, the words echoed through me and while they did not exactly work to revitalize my strength, they did help me get back on my feet again.   

I leaned against a nearby wall for support, trying to regain control over my breathing, which was quickly reducing itself to the not-so-steady gasps of hyperventilation.  I had to work hard to slow down my racing heart; it had not yet relaxed from the chase.  Retaining calm was never easy under these discouraging circumstances.

Once I was somewhat situated, I took off in another completely random direction and the voice offered me no more words of encouragement or advice there on in.  

It just left me alone once again, with the eerie sound of my feet striking against the pavement to break the silence, this interrupted by the triumphant shouts that accompanied my every step… and coming closer, _much closer._

I would not be alone for long.  They nearly had me now.

Once more, I sent a quick prayer up to our Creator, hoping against hope that at the very least I had my affairs in order.  All the while I was being careful not to stumble over my own feet this time… it would take a damned miracle as it is for me to survive all this! 

Adrenaline continued to pump through me and soon it was the only thing keeping me going, though I would just have sooner collapsed, as my strength rapidly left me for a safer haven.  

I nimbly dodged around another corner, up one fire escape staircase then down another, going further and farther, quicker and faster until I reached the top of a roof.  Pausing only to judge the distance, I leapt from that flat-topped building to the next.

I may have actually been able to make it that night, if only my luck had improved…

Instead, the inevitable happened, and as to be expected, I ran out of rooftops to jump from and straight into a 'dead' end.  Anyone care to rephrase, because it was _not that funny._

A wave of despair washed over me as desperation controlled my thoughts and actions.  In other words, I went completely numb.  Nothing came clearly to me anymore as I looked down into the depths of the street _very far below… and gulped. _

I tried to stifle a sob and back away from the ledge as quickly and as quietly as possible, but when I turned around… _they were waiting for me._

I felt more than saw myself become undeniably _their prisoner completely under __their mercy as they proceeded to surround me from all sides.  _

Trapped, there was no way out …

_Help me Yami!  _I could almost hear my mind voice sniveling in fear, while I myself choose to give a very dignified whimper...

He still refused to answer me though as one of the black robed persecutors choose that particular moment to take a hesitant step closer, then another this time more confident.  

Something in his cautious advance told me that he was expecting something else to come; a last fight perhaps?  He obviously did not know me very well then… or the fact that I was in control instead of my Yami.  Nonetheless, he remained extremely wary of any movement I made, almost apprehensive... unknowing that I was coming to terms with this and finally admitting defeat.

Slowly, as though he sensed this, he grew more secure and approached, still seeming to stalk a particularly flighty and unpredictable prey.  One hand at his side rested on what looked to be a scythe-like blade.

As the moon glinted off metal, I shivered.  In the next minute, I was trembling with fear at the realization of their true intent…  

They would not make the same mistake they originally had with me, some of them still bore scars, and they wanted me finished, this time forever.

They were going to kill me…  Oh Gods, where was Bakura?  

_Oh, Kami-sama please let him respond!  _I thought again desperately, as the trepidation of what was to come gripped and held me as strong as iron shackles to where I stood but…

Nothing, nothing came, only deafening silence was there with me as I inched my way towards the edge once more, looking down three or four floors below I moaned.  My head swam, I had always been afraid of heights long before this incident ever occurred.

_Bakura, I need you!_

A smirk on the tyrant's face told me what I knew to be truth from the moment this chase began; it was all over.  The only thing I had to choose now was my way out of this world.

Cold sweat dripped down my face as my stomach did flip-flops.  Blood oozed from a previous wound I had received earlier that night.

_Please Yami, I beg of you, do not let me go like this..._

Tears form, as I whimper telling myself repeatedly what a bloody coward I am.

_Why Bakura, why are you leaving me here?  _

The villainous man dressed in black robes, reminding me somewhat of the grim reaper, seemed to appear out of thin air and grab me about the neck, trying to squeeze the life out of me.

My vision darkened considerably but before I could suffocate completely he threw me to the ground.  

An inexplicable pain struck across my face and at the same time, I doubled over the fist now firmly lodged in my stomach.  If my body had not previously placed me in shock, it finally took pity and did then.

I remember seeing his approaching boots, one decidedly lifting into the air to place a last swift kick for good measure, and probably to end up cracking the rest of my ribs as well. 

It did not happen however; I did not let it, for it was at that moment I choose my own fate.

God alone knows, for I could not possibly grasp what gave me the strength to dodge that blow that night.  It would have been an amazing feat for most under normal pretences; it was an impossible one for me either way.

Yet for some reason that evening, I did manage _not to choose the knife.  _

I could not allow that monster the satisfaction of killing me, even if it would be less painful and certainly quicker.  That was a right reserved for only _one other besides me._

So instead, I chose to take the long way down… the fall to the darkest of the darkened streets below.

I ran to the ledge, they did not follow.  I nudged myself a little closer still; it would take nothing more than a chilly night's breeze to push me off from where I precariously balanced. 

_Yami…_

I felt my feet slip out from beneath me then.

_I…_

As the wind rushed past me, I really did see my life flash before my eyes, ordering from the most recent to the beginning…

Amazing how a few seconds can turn into eternity.

*****Flashback*****

"How is this possible?"  I say wonderingly or try to anyway; my throat seems to have gone dry from the sight.

My Yami, after all these years, has finally obtained a body of his own.

Moreover, it is gorgeous!

My breath caught as I looked at him, tears welling inexplicably to my eyes.  Many times before I had seen him in his soul room but the gloomy light there could never do him any real justice.  He was not there anymore though… he was here!  Moreover, in reality, he was flawless, perfection itself… he was alive!   

His hair turned out not to be a pure white like my own, but an ashen grey and his skin tones as well were a tad bit tanner than my own as well, reflecting he was still my darkness.

"How can this be?"  I whisper again, not quite believing what I saw…

He turns to me then and for one moment, for one hesitant, glorious moment…  I thought things would be different between us.  His eyes were still void of all emotion, but his soul… his soul rejoiced with my own at finally being free...

A tear finally does escape but it never makes it as far as my chin before Bakura wiped it away, rubbing it between two fingers in consideration… inside though, I really think he marveled at the feel, at being able _to_ feel again.  

He then turns his attention on stroking the soft skin of my cheek, as if to confirm this was indeed real and actually happening… still, for all his astonishment, he remained utterly passive.  

Then he does something completely unexpected...

He _kissed_ me.

To say I was flabbergasted would be indescribably an understatement, but still… those few moments were above the most precious and treasured of all of my existence…  

I could taste him, smell his exotic scent of spices… but the most extraordinary of all, I could feel the beating of _his heart.  _

Yes for once I actually dared to think things _could be different.  A whisper of hope had alighted from within me that day and I willed the moment to go on forever, but the thought was a fleeting one, dreaming was all, and never meant to be._

It was my first and only kiss from him.

It was to be my last kiss as well. 

When reality struck, it was literally bruising.  For in the next instant, when he pulled away, his fist connected with my jaw sending me crashing to the floor.

Only then did he show emotion, he bended over me and cruelly laughed.

The last thing I saw was the ancient Tomb Robber licking my blood off his fingertips as he left the room; then, darkness overtook me.

*****End of Flashback*****

I saw many other things in those few seconds before the impact came, and with it my pain.  Time seemed to stop reality as I went through unaccountable memories, some being horrid, and others less than… 

In Battle City I remembered, where I nearly lost him to Malik by hostility and Bakura almost lost me to greed of a different sort.

Duelist Kingdom was where I first learned of his existence and he my first betrayal.  Still, the Tomb Robber somehow managed to gain possession of the Millennium Eye.  He never ceased to amaze me, how even when everything went wrong, in the end he would always come by what he wanted, always succeeded.

That was the difference between him and me, I suppose...  I gave up.

The day I first laid eyes on the Sennen Ring when my dad brought it home from an archeological excavation…  I experienced frequent blackouts there after, loss of memory and blood became common; but I never connected it with a gift bestowed by my father…

I even saw reminiscences that were not of my own, at least not in this life.  All the same, I saw them… a time in Egypt of power, slavery, and broken promises…

Then, it was over as soon as it had begun.

I hit the ground and blessed shadows encompassed my mind.  For an instant, I saw myself unconscious and bleeding.  

Then I thought no more and greeted the oncoming darkness.  Yet right before I left, I said my apologies for life to my Yami, as though I had meant to do so all along… and I thought I heard someone say it in measure with me…  

In a breath, it was done…

_…  I am so sorry._

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End of Prologue

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A/N:  I hope this came out all right, I have just been writing on impulse lately and a few days from now, I will probably reread it and decide that I need to edit and ultimately change _everything._  So enjoy what you can, while you can…  In addition, I would like to state what I know to be correct and what my interpretation was…  (Spoiler alert!):

In Battle City, Yami Bakura did choose to save Ryou instead of risking his health to claim Yami Yugi's Egyptian Puzzle.  I have heard, not seen, that when Marik is defeated, Ryou discovers the Ring that Tea stole under hypnosis and chooses to wear it once again.  I am not at liberty to say what made either of these characters act this way.  

I am fairly sure at Duelist Kingdom is where Ryou first finds out about his Yami, as far as I know there is no evidence he knew about him before hand.  Yami Bakura does still manage to steal Pegasus' Millennium Eye.

If you know any more on the series than I do please feel free to explain, if not I shall just continue to deduce what I can as I see fit.  I will try to explain my reasons for doing so as much as possible though and any Egyptian or Japanese words I use.

I hope to get the next chapter to this story up as soon as possible and your reviews will only encourage me, so pretty please!

Thanks for reading,

DruidessQueen

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